1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

What happened in the Senate Judiciary Committee this week was an embarrassment to the institution and a waste of taxpayer time. While Americans are dealing with record-high gas prices, grocery bills, and mortgage rates, Republican senators spent four hours hurling insults at Jack Smith, calling him a "dirtbag" and saying he makes them "want to throw up." That is not governance. That is a performance staged for one audience of one. The hearing produced nothing of value. Senator Eric Schmitt's dramatic "gotcha" moment collapsed when it turned out Smith attended a University of Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball game in Maryland, not an Atlanta Hawks NBA game. Wrong team, wrong league, wrong city. Senator Klobuchar had to spell it out mid-hearing. This is the closing argument Republicans chose to make before a midterm election. Your constituents deserve better. Publicly condemn this conduct, call for the Judiciary Committee to return to legitimate oversight work, and make clear that using Senate hearings as a vehicle for presidential grievance politics is unacceptable. The Senate's credibility is not a prop.